HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Martin Puchner is a literary critic and philosopher. He studied at Konstanz University, the
University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
, and the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...
, before receiving his Ph.D. at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. Until 2009 he held the H. Gordon Garbedian Chair at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...
, where he also served as co-chair of the Theater Ph.D. program. He now holds the Byron and Anita Wien Chair of Drama and of English and Comparative Literature at
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
. He is the founding director of the Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research at Harvard University. As a literary critic, he focuses on
modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...
, especially such genres as the
closet drama A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage, but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a large group. The contrast between closet drama and classic "stage" dramas dates back to the late eighteenth century. Al ...
, the literary
manifesto A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
, and
modern drama ''Modern Drama'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal publishing studies of dramatic literature. It is published four times a year by the University of Toronto Press. It was founded in 1958 and largely focuses on literature of the 19th century on ...
. His philosophical work concerns the philosophical
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literary and theatrical form that depicts such an exchange. As a philosophical or didactic device, it is ...
and the intersections of
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
and philosophy. In an interview with
Rain Taxi ''Rain Taxi'' is a Minneapolis-based book review and literary organization. In addition to publishing its quarterly print edition, ''Rain Taxi'' maintains an online edition with distinct content, sponsors the Twin Cities Book Festival, hosts read ...
, Puchner anticipates the avant-garde in the 21st century in its relation to media, asserting “We are going through a media revolution even more extreme than that of the 20th century. I would say that an avant-garde for the 21st century would have to develop ways of using our own new media in critical, innovative, provocative ways. It would also have to be part of a political analysis of our moment, and translate that analysis into a new set of attitudes and ambitions.” He is the general editor of the ''Norton Anthology of World Literature'' and lectures on
world literature World literature is used to refer to the total of the world's national literature and the circulation of works into the wider world beyond their country of origin. In the past, it primarily referred to the masterpieces of Western European lit ...
. In 2016 he launched a HarvardX
MOOC A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets, ma ...
on World Literature. In 2017, he won a Guggenheim Fellowship. He currently is a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library. In 2017, he published a sweeping account of literature from the invention of writing to the Internet: ''The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization.'' New York: Random House, 2017. The book won advanced praise from
Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...
. On October 13, 2020, W. W. Norton & Company will publish his latest book, ''The Language of Thieves: My Family's Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate''.


Bibliography

*2002; 2011: ''Stage Fright: Modernism, Anti-theatricality and Drama''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. *2003: ''Against Theatre: Creative Destructions on the Modernist Stage''. Editor, with Alan Ackerman. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. *2003: ''Six Plays by Henrik Ibsen'', with an introduction and notes by Martin Puchner. New York: Barnes and Noble. *2005: ''Karl Marx: The Communist Manifesto and Other Writings''. With an introduction and notes by Martin Puchner. New York: Barnes and Noble. *2006: ''Theaterfeinde: Die anti-theatralischen Dramatiker der Moderne''. Translated by Jan Kuveler. Freiburg: Rombach. *2006: ''Poetry of the Revolution: Marx, Manifestos, and the Avant-Gardes''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, Winner of the James Russell Lowell Award. *2007: ''Modern Drama: Critical Concepts''. New York: Routledge *2009: ''The Norton Anthology of Drama''. Co-editor. New York: Norton. *2010: ''The Drama of Ideas: Platonic Provocations in Theater and Philosophy''. New York: Oxford University Press. Winner of the 2012 Joe A. Callaway Prize for best book in drama or theater. *2012: "The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 3rd edition." General editor. New York: Norton. *2017: "The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization. New York: Random House, 2017. *2020: ''The Language of Thieves''. New York: Norton.


References


External links


Private homepage

Page at harvard.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puchner, Martin German literary critics Living people 20th-century German philosophers University of Bologna alumni Harvard University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century German philosophers University of Konstanz alumni Harvard Extension School faculty